Dog got a new bed so I can sleep better
I bought an orthopedic bed for my dog this week.
My 15-year-old German Shepherd/Yellow Lab mix was once a sprightly pup who could snatch a frisbee out of mid-air, climb my evergreen bushes to get his ball and fly up and down my stairs just to burn off some extra energy. He was so agile that he once followed me up a ladder to the flat roof over my breakfast nook, just to see what I was doing (I was painting). I had to pry open a second-story window to get him in the house. Apparently, his agility didn’t include backing down a ladder.
But now, he is hampered by arthritis, and sits at the bottom of the stairs staring toward the top until I come and give him a little boost to get him going.
I’m sure you’re thinking I bought him an orthopedic bed as a reward for years of companionship and entertainment.
Not the case.
My once-agile dog also was the pup who ate the first two beds I bought him, chewed up my pillows and ripped my upstairs carpeting to pieces.
More than once I came home to shredded furniture and feathers from down pillows floating around my bedroom.
No, I bought him an orthopedic bed so that I could sleep better at night.
In recent months, he tends to get up at night to stretch his limbs and loosen up.
And he isn’t quiet about it. First, I’ll hear his toenails scratching against the wall as he tries to roll over to get up on his feet. Then there are several moments of grunting as he finally gets up. Then he walks around the bed several times, trying to get me up to pay attention to him. Finally, he sits and stares at me in the dark, which gives me the creeps.
I’m hoping that if he sleeps better, I’ll sleep better.
Not wanting to spend a lot of money, I surfed all the cut-rate discount sites on the Internet until I found something affordable. It finally came Monday, and he took to it like a dog to a bone, so to speak.
The bed looked so comfortable that I tried to get him to move over so I could lay on it, too, but he wouldn’t give an inch.
Maybe I’ll have to buy one of my own. I wonder if that sale is still on …
